Ed Viesturs

Edmund Viesturs (born June 22, 1959) [1] is a high-altitude mountaineer and corporate speaker. He is the only American to have climbed all fourteen of the world's eight-thousander mountain peaks, and the fifth person to do so without using supplemental oxygen.[2] He has summited peaks of over 8,000 meters on 21 occasions, including Mount Everest seven times; only two other climbers, Phurba Tashi Sherpa Mendewa and Juanito Oiarzabal, have more high-altitude ascents.

Viesturs is known for his assistance to other mountaineers. In 1992 he and fellow American Scott Fischer brought down French climber Chantal Mauduit, suffering from exhaustion, after her summit of K2.[7] Viesturs was in the IMAX climbing team during the 1996 Everest Disaster.[8] He was featured in the Everest IMAX movie. Filming was delayed as a blizzard struck. The IMAX team postponed shooting and followed Viesturs up the mountain to aid the stranded climbers. The team ultimately decided to keep going, and summited Everest on May 23, 1996. In July 2003, Viesturs and a Kazakh team headed by Denis Urubko were instrumental in the rescue of French climber Jean-Christophe Lafaille from Broad Peak. Lafaille had developed high-altitude pulmonary edema and was unable to complete his descent. They coordinated a rescue attempt in the dark and were able to get Lafaille safely off the mountain and helicoptered out for medical help.[9]

Viesturs's more recent climbs have included Broad Peak and Nanga Parbat in 2003, Annapurna in 2005, and Mount Everest (seventh time) in 2009.[15] On July 8, 2009 he led an expedition to Mount Rainier as part of the United Way Climb for the Community effort. Seattle Seahawks coach Jim Mora, Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke, and NFL commissionerRoger Goodell took part in this charitable enterprise, successfully summiting the 14,410 ft peak. Viesturs led an expedition to Antarctica in January 2011 to climb its highest peak, Vinson Massif. In August 2011, he summited Mount Rainier for the 208th time.[16] Viesturs now acts as a guide for RMI Expeditions.[17]

Viesturs was a cinematographer in the 2003 film Trio for One, which told the story of French alpinist Jean-Christophe Lafaille's mission to climb Dhaulagiri, Nanga Parbat and Broad Peak in a period of two months.[22] He acts as a design consultant for manufacturers of outdoors equipment and is a representative of his adopted hometown's football team, the Seattle Seahawks. He is a member of the board of directors for Big City Mountaineers, an urban youth organization that offers wilderness experiences. Viesturs has also found a niche as a corporate motivational speaker.[16]

In October 2006, Viesturs published No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the Worlds 14 Highest Peaks, an autobiography that documented his 16-year journey summitting all fourteen eight-thousanders, and his strategies to manage risk in extreme mountain environments.[23]

He was a guest on the Daily Show on December 7, 2006, and appeared on The Colbert Report on March 14, 2007, where he agreed to plant a Colbert Report flag on top of Mount Everest the next time he went.[25][26] On July 2, 2009, he brought the Colbert Nation flag back from Everest's summit to the show.[27]

Viesturs himself and some of his footage of Mount Everest are featured in the 2007 release by Big Fish Games of Hidden Expedition: Everest, an early game in the hidden object genre. It achieved first runner-up for Best Hidden Object Game of 2007. [29]

In October 2009, Viesturs and David Roberts published the book K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain, which tells the story of six expeditions to the world's second tallest mountain.[30]

In October 2011, Viesturs published The Will to Climb: Obsession and Commitment and the Quest to Climb Annapurna--the World's Deadliest Peak, which he describes his own experiences on Annapurna as well as those of others who have attempted to climb the most dangerous (statistically) 8000 meter peak.[31]

On October 8, 2013, Viesturs and David Roberts published "The Mountain: Epic Adventures on Everest", which both surveys Viesturs' personal ascents and recounts other historical ascents of Mount Everest.[32]